Crispina

I can not believe this. For years, I have been racking my brain and searching through my old Roman history books and other old books to find a story I read once. It was the story of a find of the sixteenth century of a tomb of a young girl swimming in a liquid of some sort and the body was not decomposed one bit. It was put on display and (I thought I remembered) it eventually fell into decay. Again, my little brain thought I'd read it was a daughter of Pliny. I think I even attempted my first post ever to UNRV, asking if anyone knew of this tale and if it was true or not. Well....I began reading Lives of The Roman Empresses last night and lo and behold in the footnotes on page 14 is the story! The chapter is about Calpurnia and speaks of Cicero. The story goes that it was suppose to have been Tullia, daughter of Cicero. Quote: "In the beginning of the sixteenth century, a tomb was discovered in the high-road near Terracina, which was called by the Romans Via Appia, and in it was found the body of a young girl swimming in a certain unknown liquor. The corpse had fair hair turned up with a gold buckle, and as fresh as if alive. At the feet of the body was a lamp burning, which went out as soon as the air came to it. By the inscriptions it appeared that it had been buried in that place fifteen hundred years, and it was supposed to be the body of Tullia, Cicero's daughter. It was carried to Rome, and exposed in the Capitol, where great crowds of people came to view it; but as the credulous multitude would needs have it to be the body of a saint, because it was not corrupted, the Pope ordered it to be thrown by night into the Tiber." What is your opinion on this? I find it fascinating if it's true but is it just a romantic tale? And why would the Pope throw it into the river if she was thought to be a saint??

Well, now I know more about this book. The online version has a shorter title and was published in 1913. So this means my book consists of both volumes. But why so many different titles? It also has 10 really nice illustrations and four pages of Historical Notes that include a chronological table. Does Volume I have the Author's Preface (I've forgotten even tho I checked) if not here is a bit from it: "To say the truth, I have been sometimes almost tempted to suppress a great many things which I have, nevertheless, been obliged to touch upon, but yet with all the regard to decency a man can have, who would be extremely sorry to offend against the rules of good manners. But I hope that nobody will have any great reason to blame me upon that subject, since, even in the most shameful passages of these Empresses' lives, I have carefully avoided making use of any shocking expressions". Debauched, I say! hee hee

Has anyone else read this book? It's real title is: "Lives of The Roman Empresses, The History of the Lives and Secret Intrigues of the Wives, Sisters, and Mothers of the Caesars" by Jacques Boergas De Serviez, Copyright 1935, with an introduction by Robert Graves. I bought this book long ago when I collected old books and it just so happened that I, Claudius had debuted on TV the year before. The book begins with Calpurnia, wife of Julius Caesar and ends with Constantia, wife of Licinius. It's where I learned the word "debauched" because he uses it so frequently! ha. Now is the time to take it off the book shelf and give it another read.

Crispina, I thought Eagle's Conquest was the best of the first three so far (I've only read 3 and have the 4th in the queue for the next month or so). I noticed the same thing when Scarrow describes the locations...hard to put a mental image with his descriptions. Will have to look up that last line when I get home. If you're interested in the whole Claudius/Narcissus angle to the story, check out Robert Graves' "Claudius the God" - it's the second part of "I, Claudius" and he goes into some detail of his British adventure - VERY different perspective (though also fictional), and was nice to tie in with Scarrow's storyline. The line I'm referring to came as a surprise to me. I smiled, anticipating what book three must or could be about. The librarian asked if I wanted her to get the fourth book also, but I told her I'm not that fast of a reader; although the books do move along quickly I think because of the short chapters, which I mentioned before. I was going to ask why you feel the third book isn't as good as the second, but I don't want any spoilers! As far as I,Claudius I have never read the book; only watched the series when it aired on Masterpiece Theater many many moons ago. Someday I'd love to purchase the DVD set. I have a question about another book that has been my favorite for a long time and mentions Robert Graves, but will begin a new thread on it.

I just finished reading The Eagle's Conquest last night. Enjoyed it very much, despite all the blood and gore (!)and learned little more about this time in history. This second book in the series didn't have as much humor, but that was ok. Scarrows descriptive style is great, but sometimes I got lost while he went on about the landscape in detail. Most of the time, I just couldn't visualize what he was trying to describe but I know it was just me. Maybe a dictionary would have helped, esp. with some of the British terms I'm not familiar with. And a map! Loved the very last line of the book. So, I'm off now to the library to see if they can locate the third book in the series "When the Eagle Hunts". What will Macro and Cato get themselves into this time????

Wow. Thank you very much. I genuinely appreciate the feedback. I said basically the same thing about Scarrow - that Under The Eagle read like a TV movie, only I said you could tell "he grew up with television unlike Sutcliff". I'm on the second book in the series now, and I agree with you it's all about the battles isn't it? I'm looking forward to reading Eagle In The Snow as soon as possible. Thanks for the review.

Thank you for this. Durocornovium has come up alot in the books I'm reading at the present, and now I have a better idea of how to pronounce it! Very interesting information.

I am reading "Under The Eagle" right now (well, not right now cause I'm typing) and was going to start a new thread but found this one. Having just finished the Rosemary Sutcliff series "Eagle of the Ninth", my impression is that you can sure tell Simon Scarrow grew up with television and Sutcliff didn't (as much anyway). So far I'm enjoying his first book of the series, but can't help feeling I've seen this movie before. The dialogue comes across like it could be from a group of modern Marines or other branch of service or any military movie; but who knows? maybe the centurions DID call their men "ladies" and say "I can't HEAR YOU!" And for some reason, I can't get the actor who played Marc Antoni in HBO's Rome out of my mind whenever Macro is speaking! Anyway, so far I like the story and the action scenes are written very well and one of the features of this book is that the chapters are short. It feels like I'm flying through the thing and feel accomplished when I read three chapters before bed! Definitely will continue the series. My library has the second book but the others will have to be found elsewhere.

I'm not a very good book reviewer, but wanted to give my opinion of Dawn Wind, the last book in the series; I enjoyed the story and learned a bit of Rome/Britain/Saxon history. Altho towards the middle of the book I was worried it was going to be all about a "boy and his dog" and it started to drag for me, it turned around and held my interest to the last chapter. A great ending by the way.

Ah Yes! But you didn't get to dig, "the golden undies!" LOL LOL LOL (thanks for posting video, Neph! : ) )

Now I'm not an Adam Sandler fan, but happened across the movie Bedtime Story while channel surfing and just before I switched it off the scene with Sceeticus the charioteer in ancient Rome commenced. LMAO!

Wasn't Fellini's "Satyricon" based (loosely) on an ancient Roman play ? I've watched the movie a couple of times , and certain parts could be considered comedy, but I've found it difficult to follow the story most of the time! It has been on television and I rented it from the library many years ago. I did a Google of the film and found this among others, I wasn't too far off. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyricon_%28film%29

Are there other comic movies or media based on Roman plays? Are there entertaining translations or audio readings of them? I think the Turner Classic Movie channel repeats "a funny thing" (see clip http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=9056 ). It seems to me similar in spirit to their often repeated Astaire comedies, such as http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=74675 , but I would prefer something straight from Rome eternal... Wasn't Fellini's "Satyricon" based (loosely) on an ancient Roman play ? I've watched the movie a couple of times , and certain parts could be considered comedy, but I've found it difficult to follow the story most of the time! It has been on television and I rented it from the library many years ago.

Wonderful, fascinating. Thanks for posting. I'm reading a book now that takes place in 6th.century Britain, amid the Saxon wars. So, someone just dug a pit in the middle of nowhere and placed all his booty into it? Never came back for it - were they on the run and later died, no one else was aware of it or it's hiding place? It sends the imagination reeling.

Just a side note, probably not of much interest to others; but in my local paper yesterday there was an article stating that the County Library will begin charging $5 for a book search (!). That is, finding a book at another bigger city library or other and requesting a copy on loan. They state the charge is necessary because book searches are "so labor intensive". Huh? They do it all by computer, and the librarian assisting me seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, like a treasure hunt. Oh, well.

I just finished The Lantern Bearers and agree it is the best so far. Now to begin Dawn Wind.

I just finished "Frontier Wolf" in this series. I liked it, but I still wish there was a glossary to refer to when soldier's ranks are mentioned, ect. Also, it isn't clear just who this Aquila's father is - at least to me (the Marius Aquila, red haired friend of the surgeon in The Silver Branch? The surgeon being a cousin and the main character in that book). It would be nice to see a family tree at the end of the last book of the series! : ) Also the local library found a copy of The Lantern Bearers and Dawn Wind within days of each other, so now I have two books to read asap before they have to be returned. I started TLB this afternoon.

Just a bit of the review of Dawn Wind I found online. For some reason the link to the site will not work, but in your browser if you type: "greenmanreview of Rosmary Sutcliff's The Eagle of The Ninth book series" you should find it. Dawn Wind closes the story of the Aquila family and Roman Britain. Opening the morning after Cealwin of Wessex defeats the British at Dyrham (about A.D. 577) and ending with the arrival of Augustine in Kent in A.D.597 (though only fourteen years pass in the book). Dawn Wind is the story of Owain, the great-great-grandson of the main character of The Lantern Bearers.

Well I replied to this post, but evidently it disappeared. I'll try again: I also found that info about the titles you mentioned. So far the books are a fun read and I'll probably read them all. The librarian was excited about finding the missing books for me, and I could have told her they were for my niece or nephew but I didn't.

I have not read all 5, but out of the 3 there that I have read, The Lantern Bearers is by far the best I think. Thank you Macro. It was you who brought these books to my attention, I had forgotten your name.

I just finished "The Eagle of The Ninth", the first book in the series and got "The Silver Branch" from the library this morning. So, the third book in the series is "Frontier Wolf" or "The Lantern Bearers"? Then the last "Dawn Wind"? I thought I read in a discussion about this book series in another thread on UNRV that there were only three books. ???? The librarian was kind enough to order them sent to our local lib. from a larger city library, where there were only one or two copies of the last three available. On the internet I found this info: 1. The Eagle of the Ninth (Oxford University Press, 2000) 2. The Silver Branch (Oxford University Press 2001) 3. Frontier Wolf (Puffin Books, 1984) 4. The Lantern Bearers (Oxford University Press 2001) 5. Dawn Wind (Puffin Books, 1982) Has anyone read all five books?